Could the Treasury just get around the debt limit by selling super-high-coupon bonds? (Say, 30%…) So they auction at a huge premium and Treasury earns proceeds that are a multiple of face value. Face value = low = stay under debt ceiling since it’s based on ‘money borrowed’ which is face value (?), but proceeds = high = can pay the ‘bills we’ve racked up’ (spending plans). Tune sizes/coupons/durations as required.

I’m sure the answer has to be some flavor of “ha, no, you idiot” but I’m interested in which flavor?

For example is the ‘debt ceiling’ stated in terms of face value or net-proceeds-received-at-auction? The latter would render my ‘solution’ a non-starter, but it would be somewhat surprising to me if they’re really tracking the debt-for-purpose-of-staying-under-debt ceiling in those terms. Given that they can’t multiply by 0.6156 and all.